Retail-Commercial

This renovation of the funeral home was the second project we have performed for this client. The first was a crematorium addition for a funeral home in Vero Beach, Florida.

The Boyd-Panciera Family Funeral Home in Deerfield Beach, Florida, was a significant renovation that impacted all areas of the facility. The Chapel area was totally redesigned. The office area and “back-of-house " area, including the addition of several crematorium units and a significant enlargement of the holding area, were completely redesigned.

The Interior Design Firm of Michael Hernandez, an interior designer, provided a great understanding of the client's needs and project limitations. His renderings and computer graphics provided the client with a clear picture of the project.

The First National Bank of South Miami asked Chael, Cooper and Associates to redesign a building the bank owned adjacent to its own. This one-story building was originally part of the urban fabric of the downtown of South Miami in the 1930’s. In recent years, the building has been used as office space by an attorney's firm. Following our consultation, the bank decided to redesign the building to accommodate several complementary retail merchants, helping revitalize downtown retail.

By adding a new section of leasable space to the courtyard and opening the solid street-front walls, we increased future tenants' exposure to the shopping public. We altered the courtyard's proportions to retain the open character of the sidewalk/street experience.

The original building was constructed when there were few structural requirements. As construction progressed, we discovered that many structural elements were missing from the existing structure, including tie columns, beams, and footings. Fortunately, there were weekly meetings with the owner, contractor, and architect where project progress and unanticipated complications were discussed and resolved with all parties in agreement.

This project included many considerations of:

• “New Urbanist” designs (windows facing the street and buildings built to the sidewalk edge to define the public space).
• Historic consideration of the original design intent of the 1930’s and
• Forensic architecture (the investigation of the structural components since no original plans existed). Also, many assumptions, such as the size of footings, had to be adjusted when no footings were found during excavation.

The project today is a successful, popular retail area in South Miami's downtown area.

A commercial property owner who had an almost fully developed block in South Miami approached our firm to design a building to complete his existing complex. The site was small, and there were many zoning and planning issues that hindered its development. Chael, Cooper and Associates approached the design as a mixed-use, urban infill project with retail (restaurant) on the first and second floor and office/residence on the third floor.

After resolving the parking and zoning issues, the project development continued with functional design for the tenants. The design addressed the dual-sided exposure to a parking lot and busy US-Highway 1, and the control of views to and from the building.

The most distinctive feature of the building is the incorporation of art into its elements (column capitals and balconies). The column capitals were designed and cast uniquely for this project. The balconies also featured precast concrete bas-relief images of the Bird of Paradise plant. The completed building reflects both classic proportions and traditional architectural principles. The owner, whose office sits atop the building, can oversee all his development in complete comfort.